A unique board game set in the ice age that combines worker placement and deck building in an innovative way.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
3 DAYS UNTIL THE PLEDGE MANAGER CLOSES!
almost 5 years ago
– Tue, Mar 30, 2021 at 01:56:04 AM
Greetings tribe members!
This is a kind reminder for those of you that haven't completed your survey yet. We would like to remind you our Pledge Manager and Late Pledge schedule.
Have a nice day! :)
- On March 31st all new surveys and late pledges will be locked in, and their cards will be charged.
- After that date, all $1 pledges will lose their option to back the game with KS prices. Backers that backed the game already but didn’t fill their survey until that point, they will start receiving emails from us in order to do so.
- Late Pledges will still be available a bit longer. We don’t know the exact date yet but once we do we will announce it.
- After that date, only non KS copies will be available.
Core Art & Development: Check!
almost 5 years ago
– Tue, Mar 16, 2021 at 05:01:13 PM
Greetings, tribe members!
We hope you are all doing well and feeling excited, knowing that spring is one step closer.
Pledge Manager
As of today, the already-completed surveys were locked in, and the credit cards were charged. Surveys that have not been completed yet will still be able to be done by the end of March. Please consider completing your survey sooner than later—since after the end of the month, you won’t be able to benefit from the special Kickstarter prices.
Miniatures
We’re happy to say that we were finally sent a photo of a wash treatment on the minis that met our expectations. We’re quite pleased with what we can see. We cannot wait to get the actual figures in hand!
The core game’s development cycle is coming to an end. We would like to thank all of our collaborators and playtesters who provided such valuable feedback. At the end of this update you will find an in-depth rundown from Jonny Pac about all the various adjustments that were made in the last few weeks and months.
With that news, we’re excited to share the link of the most-updated TTS version to play online. Please follow this link:
Our plan is to share the new TTS link openly so all of our backers can test the game out in digital form. As before, we created a smaller document with all the new rules (inside TTS). Anyone who knows the basic game should not have trouble adapting the changes until we update the full rulebook. The next version of the rulebook will be a draft still (which we will do ourselves, without the help of our official rulebook collaborator “Gaming Rules!”). After that, we will work on the more-detailed final version. Rulebooks are completed in a series of stages, but we want to give you something to play on TTS right away—even before things are 100% final. We thank you for your understanding and patience as we work hard to make the game better and better with each sweep.
Discord
Some of you have asked us to create an official Endless Winter Discord channel. So there you have it! We’ll be happy to see you there and talk about and play the game.
We are thrilled to announce that the core game’s artwork is officially done. The Mico did an amazing job, and we couldn’t be more happy with the results. The art for the expansions is almost done as well. There’s only a handful of pieces left to do.
Here’s a collection of new images for you to feast your eyes on. Enjoy!
Since the art wrapping up, we can start finalizing the files of cards and punch-boards for the factory. At the same time, we will start to finalize the rulebook’s layout. Our plan is to finish almost everything by the end of the month, then have the whole next month set aside to copy-edit, proof, and triple-check everything.
Gameplay Development Notes
Here’s an overview of the most-significant changes made to the game, besides a few numbers here and there. Please keep in mind that this is still a work in progress, subject to further changes. Your feedback is valuable to us and we will read all your comments and take them to heart. Please post in the BGG forum listed above so nothing gets lost in the shuffle.
Sacred Stones
We changed the Sacred Stones from end-game to in-game scoring for a number of reasons. In short, the old versions tended to incentivize a last-minute rush to meet the criteria shown (e.g. moving a bunch of Camps to a Terrain hex of a given kind right before the game ends). Therefore we wanted to incentivize players to invest in Sacred Stones throughout the game, early, middle, and late—not just "grabby" points at the end. Now players have to look at the ROI (Return On Investment) of the Stones for the remaining rounds in which they can score. Think of Sacred Stones as point engines, not end-game goals.
Also note that there are only two groups of Sacred Stones, instead of four. Era I Sacred Stones are available the whole game; Era II Sacred Stones can only be gained in rounds 3-4. The latter tiles can generate higher numbers of points, knowing they will only score 1-2 times per game. The number of tiles used in each game depends on player-count, and there will always be some left in the box, out of play.
Megaliths
The way Megaliths were scored was an ongoing issue, with many players not understanding how it really worked—despite it being fairly simple, in theory. Now, by instantly scoring upper Megaliths in-game, players can see and evaluate the points very easily. It also leads to much more player interaction—as you can play defensively, opportunistically, and so on.
For those just reading this without seeing the updated rules doc: when you place a Megalith on top, it goes in the middle of 4 lower Megaliths. You immediately score 2 points per Megalith under it that is of your player color, and 1 point per Megalith that is not your color (grey or opponent colors). Megaliths can be stacked on a third, or higher, level as well, with the same scoring (4-8 points, for the tiles they touch).
There are new suggested base tile setups for each player count. These help drive players to interact by staggering the starting spaces in various formations. (Note: The starting spaces can now only have grey Megaliths placed on them to do the “double-placement” action.)
Idol Board
The left side of the Idol board has instant benefits when you enter the 4th, 7th, and 9th steps. You gain 1 Tribe card from the supply to your hand—which helps you build your deck.
Action Columns
The “infinite” middle actions were problematic, with broken-feeling combos and recursive patterns. By making these spaces all one-time only, it fixed a bunch of edge cases—and it opened up design space, allowing us to not fear something being done too many times at once (such as burying 5 cards, gaining and tipping a ton of animals in bulk, and building too many Sacred Stones). Now you have to plan to revisit these spaces throughout the game, instead of just a big one-stop-shopping spree. Besides the middle actions, we adjusted the costs and benefits of several of the actions. Many actions require Labor and Tools together, which makes Tools a bit more important—and it tightened up the economy nicely.
Tip: Make sure you can gain Tools—or forego drawing cards/gaining Idols if you expect you’ll need Tools in the near future. The “lesser benefits'' option is your friend when times are tough. To help with this, we also introduced two new starting Tribe cards which allow you to trade 1 Food for 1 Tool when you play them.
Chief Cards
We now allow players to mix-and-match the sides of the Chief cards. You can choose the 1-Tool or 2-Food side at the start of the game. If you believe there is a direct synergy with some Chiefs and a given action (like using the Migrate Chief with the 2-Food side), that's fine—but getting a Tool might actually be better than getting Food if you have enough Labor and Food options. We feel it is balanced in both cases, just apples and oranges. Playtests have shown that both sides are very useful.
Culture Cards
All of the Culture cards have been completely rebuilt and re-balanced. The costs and benefits and points were all factored in much more carefully now that the other systems are more stable. Era I Culture cards are a bit weaker, but they will cycle into play more times than Era II cards, giving you a better in-game ROI. Era II cards are designed with the assumption that they will get played 0-2x per game (usually once), so they are worth more VP and have more powerful effects.
Animal Cards
Now each kind of Animal card has a different effect when you Tip it, besides gaining Food. This not only adds variety to the game, it brings more Tools into play—which are now a more-essential resource. Many, many playtesters asked us to make the one-dimensional Animal deck more interesting, either by giving the cards unique benefits or different set-scoring criteria—or both. Instead of messing with distributions and various ascending scoring number patterns (which would require player-count scaling during setup), we decided to give the Animals in-game tipping abilities. These effects feed back into the underlying systems of the game in ways we are very happy with. Though the cards offer a variety of benefits, the "luck of the draw" is not something to be overly-concerned with, as it is very easy to fill the display with new cards and choose the ones that you are looking for. Whenever you use a “draw a random Animal effect,” it costs less than the other gain-Animal action, where you can choose from those available, face up. Set scoring is now 1/3/6/10 points for 1/2/3/4 cards of the same kind. Birds are wild, and Mammoths are 1/1 point, like before. However, you may collect more than one set of the same color after you surpass four of a kind. (There are 10 copies of each basic animal, and 5 copies of the bird, and 5 copies of the mammoth.)
Tipping Animal Cards
Whenever you perform the Tip action, you may only Tip one card, not as many cards as you wish. This is true at the middle space on the “Hunt” action column, as well as on every Culture card and place you find the Tip-Animal action icon.
Player Boards
The player boards have a number of small-but-significant changes on them, most notably, the in-game scoring for the Sacred Stones (and the immediate benefits when you place them) and the Eclipse phase benefits you can unlock under the Megaliths (1 Tool, and 2 Idols). We added a Tip-Animal action to Eclipse space, which allows players who use this action to also tip one Animal, which will likely give them the resources to make a better move next turn.
Setup Cards
The initial benefits on the setup cards have all been updated, knowing the new economy, and new Animal/Tribe card abilities. The cards are “balanced” with x number of utility per card, and none are especially weaker or stronger than others (though there are some apples and oranges in there). We understand that asymmetry is never going to be 100% balanced, almost by definition, unless the features are simply cosmetic—or fungible. Fairness and mathematical balance are two different factors, with some overlap. We are aiming for the most-fair and most-balanced game we can without taking on a reductionist view that games are just complex math puzzles. We feel they are human experiences dictated by the tensions of behavioral economics, more than pure robotic number-crunching. Utility Theory is a beautiful thing...
Starting Hands/Resources
We now ensure that each player starts the game with their special Tribe card (based on their Setup card) and their 2-Labor Tribe card. Then they draw 3 more cards to have a starting hand of five. From there, each player after the first gains a progressively better compensation resource: 1 Food, 1 Tool, and draw 1 card, respectively.
Tribe Cards
The abilities on some of the Tribe cards have been adjusted, especially their Eclipse benefits. The Elder allows you to gain a new Tribe card (to your discard pile); the Pathfinder gives you 3 Camp-movement actions; and the Hunter allows you to Place 1 Camp and gain 1 Food.
The Shaman card has one and a half Labor on its upper left corner. This can be summed when you play it with other Shamans, or used to break ties during the Eclipse phase. The Shaman's new card ability also provides an extra half-Labor that can be added to its half-Labor, giving a total of 3 Labor (when played at any Action Column after spending 1 Tool). The Shaman’s Eclipse benefit is 1 Idol.
Eclipse Phase Order
The Eclipse phase is resolved in this order: player-order benefit, Tribe cards, hex map, player board. Each player completely finishes each of these steps before the next player begins their steps (in the new player order).
PM & LATE PLEDGES SCHEDULE
almost 5 years ago
– Mon, Mar 15, 2021 at 12:54:11 AM
Greetings tribe members,
A tiny update concerning PM’s closure date. We were planning to have this update as part of our official Monday’s update, but since some of you were asking about it, we decided to send it sooner than later.
At this point almost 1.800 surveys are not completed yet. At the same time, everyday around 30-50 backers complete their surveys. We are trying to find the best solution for everybody, and for that reason we present you the PM and late pledge schedule:
- On March 15th (Monday) all completed surveys and late pledges will be locked in, and cards will be charged.
- PM surveys that are not completed will be able to do so until the end of the month.
- On March 31st all new surveys and late pledges will be locked in too, and their cards will be charged.
- After that date, all $1 pledges will lose their option to back the game with KS prices. Backers that backed the game already but didn’t fill their survey until that point, they will start receiving emails from us in order to do so.
- Late Pledges will still be available a bit longer. We don’t know the exact date yet but once we do we will announce it.
- After that date, only non KS copies will be available.
For those reasons, we would kindly ask all backers that are interested in backing the game, to fill their surveys soon.
Thank you for your time and see you on Monday! :)
Box Liner
Updated TTS Link!
about 5 years ago
– Thu, Mar 04, 2021 at 08:25:33 PM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Miniature Samples, Updated TTS, Awards, and More
about 5 years ago
– Tue, Feb 23, 2021 at 06:48:22 PM
Greetings, tribe members!
How are you? We missed you. We have tons of new for this update so let’s get to it.
Survey Completion
As you might have seen, once the PM was open, we did our best to answer all of your questions as quickly as we could. We admit it was tough for the first couple days with the initial rush, but then we were able to keep up. We thank you for your patience, and it was our pleasure help you.
At this point about 77% of the surveys are completed. The PM will close on March 10th. Though there is still plenty of time, if you haven’t completed the process yet, it would be best to do it soon. If you have an issue completing the survey, please send us a KS message or an email to [email protected] and we will try to sort it out right away.
Fun fact: the 4 most popular add-ons in the PM so far are:
Big Box upgrade
Mammoth Module
Resin Pack
Small Playmat
Miniatures Samples
Chinese New Year is being celebrated until February 26th. This means that any manufacturing tasks, such as the wash on the minis, are pending. Nevertheless, we have received a pack of all the samples of minis without wash—and they look stunning. Here are some pics!
Villages
Villages
Chief Bases
Chief minis
Chief minis
Tabletop Simulator Update
Many backers requested an updated TTS version of Endless Winter. And we listened! We are happy to announce that the updated version was completed a few days ago. Before we make it available to all of you on March 1st, it’s being tested among some internal groups to be sure everything is working properly. Between March 1st and 10th, you will have a good window of time to test it before the PM closes. We plan to update the whole rulebook, but we also plan to provide another sheet that specifically notes the things that were changed. This way players who have already played the previous version can jump right into the game without having to read the entire rulebook again.
Coming on March 1st
Updated TTS mode
TheMico Art — Culture Cards
🔥 The Mico is on fire!!! Every day feels like a holiday as we receive new pieces of art from him. You can have a look at the complete collection of Culture cards and Ancestors Tribe cards. 👀
(Plus, the new TTS mod will feature the updated Culture card art in its fully glory!)
Culture Deck art
Tribe Deck art (Ancestors)
Honors and Awards
Undoubtedly this was the month that Endless Winter received the most honors. We've gathered all of them for you here to check out!
BGG: Although final results are still pending, we are thrilled that with your help Endless Winter — Paleoamericans reached the #3 Overall, #2 Euro, #1 Historical spots on the Most Anticipated Games of 2021 list. This is amazing. We really cannot thank you enough! We promise you that the anticipation will be 100% worth it, and the game will exceed your expectations.
Dice Tower: We were also blown away by the Dice Tower's most anticipated games of 2021 list. In this video, we were speechless to see Endless Winter in the following spots:
#10 on Tom’s list
#1 on Mike’s list
#11 on Zee’s list
#7 on the People’s Choice list
Have a look at Tom’s and Mike’s thoughts on the game:
Board Game Revolution & Tantrum House: Another honorable distinction among so many great contestants was from BGR and Tantrum House for “Best Kickstarter Campaign of 2020.” As avid backers, when we decided to launch our own KS campaign, we promised ourselves that we would try to avoid all those little things that bugged us in the past. Kickstarter is not a just a pre-order platform—and this campaign is proof of that. Fantasia Games would not be here today without you. You made dreams come true.
Finally we were so happy to see Endless Winter among the Most Anticipated lists of Thinker Themer, Board Game Rhino, and Professeur Board Game in places #2, #2, and #3, respectively.
Yeti & Squirrel
Many of you were worried the unsuccessful social challenge of the Yeti. Well, we couldn’t be more happy with the BGG results, so it would be kind of lame if we didn’t give you this card, right?
Now about its name: it seems that most people prefer to keep its name as "Yeti." Although geographically this is inaccurate, most people feel that it best describes an animal that lives in a frozen environment. Keep in mind that this is a promo card; that won’t be included in any retail product. It's just a little something special for you.
Some people also asked for an official confirmation about the Squirrel card. Yes! He's been unlocked too. We will present more details later, with their action options for you to select.
Retailers
Dear retailers, we sent emails to all of you who were interested in ordering KS copies of the game. If you did not receive our email, please check your spam folder or send an email to [email protected]
We are can provide provide 12 KS copies for each shop. If you are interested in a different language than English, we will give you the contact info for each of our licensees. They will help assist you from there.
What’s Next
As we mentioned before, this month is focused on playtesting and getting the final artwork. Once the new Chinese year ends, we will be back on track with the factory side of things.
Our initial plan was to finish everything by the end of this month, but in order not to rush things, we moved this deadline until the end of March. Please keep in mind that this doesn’t affect our delivery estimation. In fact, our plan for the December delivery time won't be affected if we deliver our files to our licensees by the last week of April. Therefore, have no worries; we're staying on target. With such heavy anticipation also comes a great amount of responsibility. We aim to deliver an absolutely amazing product on every level.
Thank you again for all your trust and support. Let’s make something truly great together—something that people will talk about it for years to come 💙
